Monday, May 22, 2006

A.R.M.S. and A GREAT ISLAND RETREAT


View from right side of cove. The Hotel is on the left, facing the lagoon.
Note the white sand and clear-blue water! Photograph by iKelah





View From The Main Building(Photo by iKelah)


I was at Redang Island from the 19th to the 21st, attending a medical workshop, "Applied Rheumatology Made Simple" or ARMS, sponsored by Pfizer. It was held at a 5 star resort called Laguna Redang Resort, thus the accomodation was simply smashing. From the speckless white sandy beach and the crystal-clear turquoise-blue water to the exquisite hotel structure, enriched with malay-timber architecture. Everything was heavenly. Not to mention the sumptuous array of buffets three times a day! There was a gastronomical variety of dishes: Malay, Cantonese, Indian and western and if I were to follow my 'nafs', I'd probably end up bloated but alhamdulillah, I managed to exercise prudence and frequent walks on the beach and climbing up rocks helped in burning those unwanted calories. The workshop was incorporated in a 3 days-2 nights package (sounding just like Pycnogenol's 3 hari-2 malam trysts, eh?) which carried a fairly steep fee per person, inclusive of accomodations, meals, ferry fares to and fro plus three snorkeling trips.

We pushed off early, so as not to miss the appointed 12.00pm ferry ride. After sending the kids to school we took the Jerangau route to K. Terengganu which is known to be faster by an hour as traffic is usually lighter than the coastal road.The downside of this route is that the roads are narrower and gigantic lorries and trailers are its main users. In view of the recent car-crash of our late cousin, my mental status was not prepared for the endless over-takings of cars and lorries and I was perpetually reduced to a bag of nerves! Alhamdulillah we arrived safely albeit with a driver who was overly irritated with an extremely, extremely apprehensive co-driver! We reached Merang jetty very much earlier and the organizers were very kind to put us on an early ferry so as not to waste time. Popping a tablet of Stemetil, (with a plastic bag at hand for vomitus) I prepared myself for the worst. Yes, I suffer from sea-sickness of the ultimate kind. Two years ago, on the return ferry trip from Tioman, I was essentially throwing up orally and rectally (sorry!) and by the time I reached land, I was a dried vegetable! But Alhamdulillah again, this time, both the ferry trips to and fro were uneventful and I hereby now declare myself free from sea-sickness. Yeah!

On arrival we were transfered via a 'tram' to the main building where we were served with 'welcome' drinks , half-filled glasses of whitish suspensions. The sad part was that the drinks were prepared at the bar which also served a multitude of alcoholic drinks and worst still, the bar-tenders were Malays! Astaghfirullah! "Air apa ni, dik?" iKelah asked, worried. "Air asam manis, bang'. Suddenly feeling all thirsty, I gulped down the sweet-sour concoction and found it pleasant. Apparently, sourness helps to cure someone of sea-sickness, thus the drink on arrival.


Looking pensive. (A big room but the kids are not around!)



Our room was very spacious (termed as Quad), consisting of a king bed with 2 single beds. The moment I sat eyes on the polished parquet floor and the extra 2 single beds, I gasped, "If only the kids were here, what a waste!" The room was perfect for a family get-away. As the first talk was only scheduled at night, we had ample time to explore the grounds. I decided to pamper myself for a full body massage (which I missed during the Jogja trip) and iKelah eagerly left me for his photography spree. The masseur was a young Chinese girl who did a combination of Japanese shiatsu and Chinese massage on me which are definitely different from the traditional Malay urut. Her maneuvers were more accu-pressure-like and she worked by applying hard pressure to various points. At one time, she even applied her whole body-weight on me by kneading both her kness on my back! It was certainly a first for me.


The hotel is situated in a very strategic bay which probably is a lagoon with 2 hills on the tips pf both horns. The left hill is most probably a small island, joined by a stretch of land arising from the bay. On the left is another large cove. Along the beach of both bays, you can find many resorts with scattered chalets offering similar packages of almost the same price. At night, the whole place turns into a small city of lights with holiday-makers thronging it. Various joints put on loud disco music blaring into the salty sea air and this makes me wonder why would someone go for a holiday far away on an island but only to be disturbed by the same loud music they get in the noisy city??

Sunrise at Pulau Redang with a beautiful sillhoute to complement(Photo by iKelah)

As usual, iKelah was trying to capture the magnificent rays and changing red hues of the morning sun on the island. Unfortunately, the weather was rather cloudy that Saturday morning thus the scene was far less spectacular compared to the breath-taking image of sunset at Parangtritis.

The work-shop consisted of lectures and case-studies, presented by 6 speakers and spread over 2 days. 4 of them are women doctors who sub-specialiazed in Rheumatology: Dr Hazelyn of Putra Jaya Hospital, Dr Gun Suk Chyn of Hosp. Seremban, Dr Ong Swee Gaik of Selayang Hosp., Dr Esha Dass Gupta of IMU. Incidentally Hazelyn was a school-mate of mine in SIGS JB and we had some time catching up. She is also the president for the National S.L.E. Organisation which will be organising a 2 days camp at Suria Cherating Resort this coming weekend. A public forum on 'Managing SLE patients' will be held there on Saturday at 10 am. All are invited.

This is for those who are studying medicine (and those interested)

Categories of Rheumatic Disease:

1)Ambulatory rheumatology
-Soft tissue rheumatism
-Osteoarthritis
-Gout

2)Arthritis-rash syndromes
-Viral arthritis
-Still's disease
-Reiter's syndrome
-Psoriatic arthritis
-SLE
-Henoch-Schonlein purpura

3)Chronic rheumatic diseases
-Rhematoid arthritis
-Spondyloarthropathies

4)Serious rheumatic diseases
-Infection
-Malignancy
-Vasculitis

Management of Rheumatic Disease:
1)Physio
2)Pain relief
3)Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic agents a.k.a. DMARDS

On Sunday we managed to squeeze a boat-trip to the marine park for a short bout of snorkeling. Mind you, the ride and rental of snorkeling outfit was not cheap. They even charged an extra 20rm for 'powered' goggles used by short-sighted people like iKelah. But it was worth the money to be able to see those colorful fish swimming close by. And the corals were a great sight to behold. It was sheer fun to see the fish come in droves as you drop bits of bread into the water. But it was even more fun to see iKelah do his free-style, :)). By the way, the marine park has banned the use of flippers as their usage tend to destroy the corals.

All in all, it was a truly fun-filled and educative weekend get-away, meeting people of the same fraternity and rekindling old friendships. I mingled with young doctors from various hospitals including those from Has's institution. I got to know Datuk Dr Yeow (who was iKelah's family physician in his childhood days) better, during our meals and listened as he rattled away his vast experience. As always I pray that Allah swt has blessed the trip and may the new-found knowledge benefit me. Special thanks to Ho of Pfizer for kindly inviting me.

31 comments:

Mama Pongkey said...

Oh wow. The scenery itself is worth the trip!

Sounds like a good mix of business and pleasure there. Kawe pun(g) tak sampai lagi ke mana2 pulau di Terengganu. At the momen(g) kalau balik ajek mesti sibuk hal2 lain.

So now having tried different types of massages, which one do you prefer?

dith said...

hehe...kawe ni conservative sikit. I think I'd stick to the Malay urut la...:))

Queen Of The House said...

Masyaallah, cantiknya tempat tu!! Teringin nya nak pergi - celebrate 18th wedding anniversary kat sana would be heavenly. I like the large room too - you're right, what a waste not to have the kids around.

So I see Ikelah didn't waste the opportunity to get more pics of the sun(set/rise) :)

Anonymous said...

The scenery must definately be beautiful in Redang and we got a glimpse of it from the first 2 images. They doesn`t seem to expose the whole beauty though. In fact the harsh light made me sweat and squint my eyes. Probably a more low close up shot from down the beach taking an object like pail or umbrella at a corner and another object at the opposite corner framing the sea would create a better effect.
The 4th image is much better. The composition is also great and well balanced. The sky cool.
I`m sure you have better images from redang.

Anonymous said...

I find that taking pictures at a beach or snowing is a challenge due to bright background. Not only the lightmeter will be confused, even the photographer has to make a choice of 2 extreame ends; overexposed bright background or underexposed darker subject. I can agree that the second picture is slightly overexposed but it gives some soft effect to the shores with good contrast. For the first picture, a slight increase in exposure will give a better contrast to the greens.

Anonymous said...

he..he..terbalik pulak. Kita orang co-driver yang get irritated nengok driver slow sangat..ha..ha..

Gun Suk Chin tu from my badge..

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't be surprised if the first two pictures appeared in a vacation brochure promoting Redang :)

It does seem to me that you managed to balance nicely both work and pleasure. When's the next trip? Haha...

Anonymous said...

cantiknya panorama. jika saya ada sepasang tangan & tajam pengamatan spt dr ikelah, saya akan berhenti menulis.

Anonymous said...

Salaam...
Wow.. such a nice place for a medical workshop! You must be one dedicated doctor to keep up-to-date with what's new :) By the way.. I forgot which hospital you work in?

dith said...

QOTH- I am encouraging you to go there, cantik! Btw, I read about your friend who started booknes business in the papers. She is certainly very young and pretty too!

Paul and Yamashita- lantak hangpa berdua la!

Easylady- Oh si Gun to batch you eh? Dia bawak hubby dia sekali, pergi snorkeling berdua lagi, jln pimpin tgn lagi, hehe

Hiyoshi- Yes Hiyoshi, it's such a coincidence that Ikelah and I have been busy with many trips and outings the first half of this year...usually it's work , work and more work..:p

azahar- You tulis dalam H. Metro? Bhg mana?

Ayumi- Ikelah works in a private hospital. I work in a private clinic.

Anonymous said...

DITH & Ikelah

3rd honeymoon nampak???

as if you guys are enjoying one nice holiday to another!

Anonymous said...

I've always wanted to go to Redang, but somehow ended up going to Tioman. InsyaAllah, tahun ni, jadi pergi Redang. Kita singgah Kuantan sekali. ;)

BTW, how's Redang compared to Tioman? Glad to hear that both you and ikelah had a wonderful time there.

Norma Kassim PhD said...

ooohh..m waiting for a blessed holiday in a place like this..

Jo Kontan said...

Whoaaa.!! Yet again. Ikelah with his photos...

How come when doctors said these "I was essentially throwing up orally and rectally (sorry!) and by the time I reached land, I was a dried vegetable!.... it sounded, oh so professional, but when we, the layman, it sounded so, well, kinky ? (sorry).


I cannot take boat at all. 14 years ago during our first honeymoon, Maam is the one urut2 belakang while I was throwing up...,

Anonymous said...

salam. saya di h.metro bhg sukan (kl).dah 9 thn disini, 6 thn (utusan), 3 thn (the star).letih menulis..hehehe.jika ada 20 pengamal perubatan (spt dr ikelah & dr rozza) + 20 professionalist lain yg punya bakat menulis & fotografi, kami org2 media sudah tak boleh cari makan...hehehe.

Anonymous said...

"I was essentially throwing up orally and rectally (sorry!) and by the time I reached land, I was a dried vegetable! <-- isnt that's TOO MUCH detail dith?

ps - that's why it's disgusting eating with doctors at lunch.

jokontan -- "kinky" ???????

dith said...

Mynn-3rd? No. Umpteenth! hehe

Pycno-Frankly I prefer Redang. I maybe biased because this time I get to bask in a 5 star resort unlike when I was in Tioman. And this time my ferry rides were plain-sailing compared to before. But I'd say Redang's beaches were more picturesque.

Annckay- I'd think you've been there already!

Jo- take stemetil the next time! Kinky???!!!

Azahar-Insyallah kami tidak akan 'invade' territory orang media, :P

dith said...

Mynn- that's why I made an early apology by inserting (sorry!).....I had to relate that in detail coz I can still recall vividly how hopeless I felt then.

anggerik merah said...

Came earlier to read. Nie baru sempat write. The pictures are so serene. The beauty of our own country! Thanks Dr Roza for sharing.

mynn said...

dith
true, true -- umpteenth honeymoon. seronoknya

truth be told, although we've been married 6 years now, mama sarah & I havent been on a proper honeymoon yet. although we're overseas, my idea of a perfect honeymoon is overseas - that is, on an island like you mentioned. I've lived in Terengganu and have been to Pulau Kapas many2222 times. Islands in Malaysia is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous. cant wait to go again, especially after reading your entry;(

mynn said...

typo -- please replace "is" with "are" in my comment above. (grrr)

HCI said...

wo wo wo, ni tak aci ni, you gi redang dulu dari i yang asal dari terengganu. Merang jeti tu tak ke di antara kuala terengganu dan jertih?, dekat dengan hotel tu, or is merang near marang. orang terengganu sendiri dah konpuse. bila pula nak gi perhentian?

HCI said...

Roza, did they say glucosamine any good for OA? i thought it was pretty helpful in an insidious way, but unlucky for me by the 4th day got to stop because of allergic reaction in the ear. i got that everytime i ate loads of crabs.

pycnogenol said...

A post-Redang surprise for you *wink*

http://hmm-pycnogenol.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Anggerik- How are you dearie? Hope you're coping well.

Mynn-Truth be told too, for Ikelah and I, for we too didnt have the luxury of a honeymoon after our wedding. But it's ok Mynn, you can always plan one at Redang once you're back here. Leave the kids with their grannies and enjoy urself. Do it whilst you're still young, heheh

Has- Yes Glucoseamine was mentioned and they do believe it's helpful for OA. But for severe case DMARDS are their firstlines. Merang is in daerah Setiu about 20 min from MRSM KT ( I love using it as a refering pt as Muhammad my son was there before) Dont confuse with Marang!

Pycno- Amboi! Ada dua bungalow nampak!

jellyfungus said...

I havent been to Redang in like... I dunno how many years.. and perhaps I've never even been there??? Hmm. Balik ni, kena paksa abah amik cuti!

Anyway, looks like a fun trip! Rheumatism.. bites the joints but eats the heart.. or something.. lol!

mynn said...

Regarding Glucosamine, over here ive seen many patients with arthritis on glucosamine. it's also taken as a sports medicine to strengthen ligaments etc2. unfortunately i dont have any evidence of it's efficacy, randomised controlled trials etc .. anyone else knows?

dith
pasal honeymoon tu insya allah, bila ada rezeki. planning for two. one on an island, second to Japan ... right bie?

Anonymous said...

mynn, do i get to choose the 3rd and 4th spots? I want to go to India and New Zealand.

Unknown said...

Redang became very famous after the shooting of `Summer Holidays' movie. Starring Sammi Cheng and Ritchie Ren.

If you notice, in front of Laguna, there's a small building which was supposed to be the Mo Mo Tea Inn, where they shoot the movie..

There's also Shark Bay in front of Laguna, where you can snorkel and see baby sharks..

How I missed Redang....

Unknown said...

Redang became very famous after the shooting of `Summer Holidays' movie. Starring Sammi Cheng and Ritchie Ren.

If you notice, in front of Laguna, there's a small building which was supposed to be the Mo Mo Tea Inn, where they shoot the movie..

There's also Shark Bay in front of Laguna, where you can snorkel and see baby sharks..

How I missed Redang....

dith said...

Jiwa....you are right! :P

Yes I read that More more tea inn was a recreation of the exact set for the film.

Can you dive?


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